It’s not easy being a Chesterfield fan. I know it’s not particularly easy supporting most clubs, but Chesterfield have had some moments in recent years to match anyone else in a competition of ‘how depressing can my football team be’. In the last few seasons, we went from the playoffs in League One to the very opposite end of the scale, battling for survival in the National League. In the last decade, the club has been in an almost constant state of flux with promotions, relegations, cup finals, playoff pushes, ownership changes, threats of administration and scandal. The turbulent nature of the club not only creates vast highs and lows for us fans but has created a unique fan culture of humour and pessimism.
We sometimes like to dwell on the worst moments we’ve had while supporting our club. It’s difficult to argue that there have been many more depressing periods than the 2017/18 season, the year that the club dropped into non-league and a period filled with ineptitude both on and off the pitch. Probably the worst moment in that awful season, worse than the multitude of other depressing moments was in April of 2018. It was Grimsby Town versus Chesterfield, a fight for safety that became a day to go down in infamy for Chesterfield fans, as one of the lowest moments the club ever had.
Chesterfield was awful in 2018. Really, really bad. Think of a bad football team, then tie the keeper’s arms together, blindfold the centre-halves and cripple the midfield and you’ve got the Spireites in 2018. Funnily enough, however, the team that played Grimsby contained a few names that are still fondly considered. Most notably perhaps was Aaron Ramsdale, then on loan from AFC Bournemouth and before his meteoric rise to become ‘keeper for Arsenal and England. On his appalling debut against Accrington Stanley, he let in four and was so bad he had the ‘Accy’ fans singing his name. After that match, Ramsdale became one of the few bright spots in a dark season.
Other notable players in the squad that day included fan favourite Sid Nelson, then a young but frighteningly domineering centre-half on loan from Millwall, and Kristian Dennis who somehow managed to find the net constantly that season despite the acute lack of any quality behind him.
I stayed loyal to the club that season, despite the weekly humiliation it incurred. I also went to the game against Grimsby, as did nearly 1500 other Spireites. Blundell Park is a glorious stadium in my eyes. Some would call it old-fashioned, even slightly rundown, but it is one of the last bastions of classic football stadia in this country. Along with Luton’s Kenilworth Road and Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park, Blundell Park offers something that is unfortunately sorely lacking in English football in the present. It has a real soul; it’s a ground that is steeped in history.
It’s a stadium that fits Grimsby like a glove. It’s nestled between rows of terraces and has a cobbled-together aesthetic. The oddly shaped main stand has two tiers and doesn’t go all the way along the pitch and it looms over the players during matchdays. The Osmond stand that houses away fans curves around the corner of the pitch to connect with the home end, but it is the only corner that’s populated giving the ground an out-of-balance sort of feel. Blundell Park was also the venue that hosted one of the worst matches I’ve ever been to.
Both teams on the day were at the bottom end of League Two. Chesterfield were rooted to the bottom and Grimsby were just a few places ahead of them. Neither side had seen much luck over the course of the season. If Chesterfield won they wouldn’t be safe but they would have a fighting chance to stay up in the few games that were left that season. If Grimsby won they would seal safety and would be able to put a disappointing but ultimately not disastrous season behind them. A draw wouldn’t really do much good for either team, both were going all that they could to win three points.
The match that day was officiated by Bobby Madley, who was then a referee in the Premier League as well as the Football League. Madley was there, in my eyes at least, to be a safe bet, a trusted official with expertise in high-pressure matches who could make the right decisions. He was a referee in the highest calibre league in the world after all.
It’s difficult to write about most of the match itself in much detail. It’s hard to recall something that you have spent years trying to forget but I know it wasn’t the best game ever. Neither team played with much quality- we were both at the bottom of the league for a reason. A few strong saves from Ramsdale were all that kept the score line level for most of the game.
Siriki Dembele, who has since gone on to do great things at Peterborough and sign for Bournemouth, was the best man on the pitch for Grimsby and cause many problems for Chesterfield on the left-wing. The best player for the Spireites that day was Andy Kellett, on loan from Wigan, who created half a dozen good chances but failed to convert any of them into goals.
Chesterfield were not battered, we had chances and it was by no means the worst we had played that season. It was still scoreless until the 88th minute. Sid Nelson, who had been so strong in a Chesterfield shirt, controlled the ball in the box after a tame effort was swung in from Grimsby’s left side. The catch was, however, that Nelson brought the ball under his control with his shoulder, something that I, every Chesterfield fan and even most of the players on the pitch thought was perfectly legal. Bobby Madley thought otherwise and awarded Grimsby a penalty. After some protesting from the Chesterfield players, former Mansfield striker Mitch Rose converted the penalty, slotting the ball home in the bottom right corner.
Grimsby fans were, quite justifiably, very happy. Some ran onto the pitch to celebrate with Rose who had his shirt off in celebration practically before the ball had hit the back of the net. In the away end, crushed Chesterfield fans watched on as home supporters gleefully taunted us. That penalty had sealed safety for the Mariners and had condemned Chesterfield to relegation.
And ultimately, that’s what the game boiled down to; it’s what the whole season boiled down to. An underwhelming performance and a dodgy penalty decision. Within a matter of moments, a football game went from being scoreless to being 1-0. That was all that needed to happen, and it was heart-breaking. The few Chesterfield players that came over to the fans after the match were met with vitriol and abuse. Emotion boiled over and chants of ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’ were sung loudly, 1500 of us were completely broken.
Mansfield fans like to claim that their win at the Proact that season was what sent us down but ask any Chesterfield to show them a game where all hopes were dashed against the wall, a match that all but sealed Chesterfield’s horrible fate and they will point to Grimsby away.
But relegation wasn’t quite the death sentence we all thought it would be on that day in Cleethorpes. Would the Community Trust have taken charge of the club if we didn’t get relegated? Would Dave Allen and Ashley Carson still be in charge, creating scandal after scandal? Would it be some other businessman who similarly didn’t care about the club past the balance sheet? We certainly wouldn’t be experiencing the excitement that surrounds the club at the moment, there would be fewer fans in the stadium, worse management and maybe even a weaker squad than what we have now. I’m not going to go as far as saying that relegation, and that day against Grimsby, in particular, was a blessing in disguise. I will never be able to forget how horrible that season was, and how depressing that day in Cleethorpes was, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Chesterfield as a club has grown stronger because of its hardships, and maybe its fans have done the same.
The Post Match 